London 2012 ... kind of

No, I'm not in London but I am however in Manchester which is north England.

I mentioned that I would keep you updated on my asthma. I did have another major asthma attack and my team ended up taking me to hospital. It was Wednesday evening last week and during team prayer I started having another asthma attack, so my inhalers were grabbed and I was bundled into the car and driven to Emerald hospital, I'm getting quite familiar with that place now :) I was dragged straight into A and E and onto a bed, nebuliser straight onto my face, heart monitor on and a cannula went into my hand. After about 15 minutes I had calmed down and Mateo and Ruth were allowed to come and see me (Odyn held the fort up at home) I was quite 'jolly' by that point, because of all the different drugs the doctors had pumped into my system through my cannula, which I called my laser and proceeded to shoot Mateo with, I was away with the fairies, but still totally conscious of what was going on, so for the next hour or so there were some very funny comments passed around. Ruth decided to video me, so maybe I will see if I can put the video onto the blog. Since the attack started I had a steroid injection, 4 lots of nebulisers and blood tests. I did however have to stay in over night as my heart rate was extremely high, which was at 150, I ended up having to be put on a drip, which went into my cannula, a nebuliser ever four hours, blood pressure checked every hour. I also had the pleasure of a chest X-Ray and two ECG's , but I had an AWESOME lunch the day after at the hospital of roast chicken and vegetables followed by fruit and ice cream :) So I now have to be permanently put onto a preventer and regular check ups :(, but that's ok. My team were amazing and were very good at getting me to the hospital, so I am totally blessed to have them in my life.

Sunset from the sky over Emerald

Relaxing on my three seats

 Now, I am currently in England, not for the Olympics though, Friday last week my Mum phoned me and told me that my Grandma had passed away, which was to be expected but sad. For the past few months Grandma has been suffering from Lung Cancer and passed away in the early hours of Friday morning 20th July with my Mum and sisters around her. So on the Monday afternoon I flew out from Emerald to Brisbane Domestic Airport, caught the bus to Brisbane International Airport, took a thirteen and half hour flight to Dubai, followed by just over seven hour flight from Dubai to Manchester to be greeted by my Mum, Dad and sister waving a sign with my name on it. The flight wasn't too bad, I was hoping for an upgrade (as you are more likely to when travelling alone) but God went one better, I stayed in Economy class but on the first flight I had three seats to myself, with a window and the second flight I had four seats to myself. I have been in England now for just under a week and I have spent time with family and I will be attending my Grandma's funeral on Wednesday morning, where I will be doing the first reading. I am missing my team greatly, but I have been lucky enough to phone them every few days and catch up. I can't wait to return, but I have enjoyed ans will continue to enjoy my time here in England. Prayers for my Grandma would be greatly appreciated. Peace to you all and God Bless

Dubai at night, it was 4 o'clock in the morning their time

The A380 that I am about to board for my flight from Dubai to Manchester

COCA COLA

Back Again

So I arrived back to Australia safely, flying comfortably on Emirates Airline with Katie. I am however slightly annoyed as I started watching the movie New Years Eve and didn't get to finish it. it was an alright movie but I just wanted to see what happened to the characters at the end ... will have to wait for another day to watch it. Katie and I arrived back into Brisbane Airport expecting to walk through the arrivals doors and have someone waiting for us ... it wasn't quite like that, we had to wait to be picked up but after waiting around for 15 minutes we were greeted by the smiling Danni, from Katie's team and Lucy, from Sam's team. I caught up with Ruth at our host home. It certainly is nice to be back in the warm Australia, where I am currently sat outside in 20 degree heat (which is warm for the middle of winter).

After a comfortable stay in our host home, Ruth and I headed out to Mass to meet up with the rest of the Netters and from there be heading on to mid-year training at Bornhoffen Camp on the boarder between Queensland and New South Wales. It was a beautifully surrounded by green mountains and misty mornings where you were greeted with steam rising from your breath, but there was the continuously lit fire in the dinning hall where we all spent most of our time. We spent 5 days being given inspirational talks, hanging out with our teams and having spontaneous Praise and Worship sessions.

This is a picture ... the little dots are glow worms.

I'm still in Queensland but the boarder to New South Wales is on the cattle grid behind me

Standing in QLD and NSW ... AT THE SAME TIME!

So on one of the days we went as a massive group to see the glow worms, for a kiwi, it's not that new but for the North Americans it was a brand new experience of standing in a cave surrounded by glowing dots. Ruth and I were also taken on a 3 minute drive by our amazing Supervisor, Jill, to the boarder of New South Wales

I was however quite sick during the last few days of training as I suffered from five serious Asthma attacks in the last 3 days. I did have the amazing support of Jill who sat with me and helped me out through these attacks and even stayed with for a while whilst I slept after my attacks. You get very tired, very quickly after an attack so best thing for you is to have a nap. I have since been to the doctors and have been given two different inhalers one to take twice in the morning and twice in the evening and then the other to take every two hours ... so I'm puffing away. Let's just pray that I have to only do this for the next week and not for a prolonged period of time. I haven't had an attack since arriving in Emerald and I pray that I don't have one as the doctor ordered that I go to hospital during my next attack to be given a Steroid shot and put on a Nebuliser, which doesn't sound fun. I will keep you posted on my recovery over the next few weeks.

But all in all it's nice to be back in Emerald, in the warmth and the youth have over the moon to see us. I'm looking forward to the next few months and what God has in store for us as a team so get excited to hear all about it.

Prayers.

The break begins ...

So mid-year arrived with great anticipation, I'm not sure Ruth or I slept for 3 days before for sheer excitement. We would sit talking to the wee hours of the morning about nothing much in particular mainly because the excitement of seeing everyone again was immense.

So the day of traveling back to Brisbane arrived, but before we could catch our flight we had our last state RE class for this half of the year. I know there is a certain knowledge that Netters are generally always happy and excited for Encounter Days and such, but I think there was also the excitement of the journey back to Brisbane hanging in the air. Well we arrived at Emerald airport, Ruth and I being in our 'country outfits' consisting of plaid shirts and overalls, however thay must of thought Ruth looked rather 'shifty' as they tested her for explosives. The flight was, well flight like and we arrived at Brisbane domestic airport on time, we were greeted by the amazing Canberra/Goulburn Team with lots of screaming and hugs. We were then transported by the ammzing LKK (National Team van) driven by Paddy back to NET office in Paddington, where again we were greeted by screaming and hugs. The excitement of everything was unbelievable and seeing everyone together again after 5 months of no contact, I can't even begin to describe.

Well we arrived as a group at Hogwarts (or Stuartholme school for Girls), it did look very much like Hogwarts so I felt it would only be right to wear my Hogwarts shirt. We had our mid-year retreat, which was amazing, but I'm not going to say anything because I know some possible future Netters will be reading this (yes, you know who you are) and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

Katie and I arrived safetly in New Zealand on Sunday 24th to a cold NZ, we were both wrapped up and feeling the cold very much. I know for me that the weather change from Central Queensland to New Zealand was drastic. Apart from the cold, I have had the chance to catch up with friends and family and catch up on a huge amount of sleep. Note that I have slept in till two in the afternoon by accident on two separate occasions, but I think that it was well deserved, plus I'm full of a chesty cold. Maybe I should be justifying the sleep ins to Dad instead of myself :) I have been keeping dad company and doing the cooking and cleaning as Mum is away in England and Dad's broken wrist is restricting him in most household and everyday tasks. Lets just pray that it continues to heal properly and quickly.

But I still have just under a week left of break so I shall keep you posted on what's going on. Hopefully I can keep my blog a little more up to date this half of the year.

Blessings to all.